The present invention relates to an inductive component. Furthermore, it relates to a process for the operation and the use of the component.
Inductive components are generally known as chokes, as inductive resistors, as signal transmitters, etc. Furthermore, their use in the context of electrical and electronic circuits is known. Their counterparts, as components of such circuits, are resistor and capacitor.
The decisive parameter of an inductive component with respect to a user signal is the relative permeability .mu..sub.r of its core material which, together with the square root of the winding number n of the winding, is proportional to the inductivity L of the component. The inductivity L, in turn, is the value of practical importance which is of interest to a technician in the circuitry and switching field.
Various possibilities exist with regard to the resistor and capacitor components that allow to change the coordinated values of resistance or, respectively, capacity, in a switching circuit in a linear and controllable way by electrical means. Examples of the electrically controllable resistor are the electronic tube, in particular the pentode, or the field effect transistor. An example of the electrically changeable capacitor is the semiconductor diode in a backward voltage connection.
The known electrically controllable inductive components such as variometer, magnetic amplifier, regulating inductor, etc., cannot be compared with the field effect transistor or semiconductor diode recited in the examples. These components operate essentially by exploiting non-linear magnetization curves, where the alternating currents to be controlled during each wave period pass through a substantial part of the magnetization curve and these currents drive the magnetic core for a longer or shorter time into saturation. This process is associated with a dramatic change of the wave shape in each case. Therefore, the recited inductive components can be compared more closely with the present-day phase control circuits such as, for example, those using thyristors.